Empty and load brake



April 20, 1937.

J. W, LOGAN, JR

EMPTY AND LOAD BRAKE Filed June 8; 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JOHN W. LOGAN,JH. BY WZ%4 ATTORNEY April 1937- J. w. LOGAN. JR V 2,077,946

EMPTY AND LOAD BRAKE Filed June 8, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 20, 1937. J. w. LOGAN. JR 2,077,946

EMPTY AND LOAD BRAKE Filed June 8, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 D/5774NCE BETWEEN C fl/A DER PIVOT Z6 39 4ND BRAKE LEVER CONNECT/0N NON/IVA L INVENTOR ATTORNEY JOHN w. LOGAN,JR. 1

Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE The Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Wilmerding, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 8, 1935, Serial No. 25,564

19 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid pressure brakes and more particularly to an empty and load brake apparatus.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved and simplified empty and load brake apparatus in which a single brake cylinder is associated with an auxiliary reservoir and a triple valve device of the type in common use, and in which the braking force may be adjusted according as the car is empty or loaded to provide a greater braking force for a loaded car than for an empty car and still maintain substantially the same piston travel whether the apparatus is conditioned for empty or load brak- Other objects of the invention and features of novelty will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a braking apparatus embodying my invention showing the apparatus conditioned for load brakmg;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of part of the apparatus shown in Fig. l and showing the apparatus conditioned for empty braking;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. I with portions of the apparatus broken away and shown in section in order to more clearly reveal other por- 30 tions;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of one of the levers employed in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 to 8 are a series of diagrammatic views showing the relationship of the various parts of the apparatus during an application of the brakes when the apparatus is conditioned for load brak- Figs. 9 to 11 are a series of diagrammatic views showing the relationship of the various parts of the apparatus during an application of the brakes when the apparatus is conditioned for empty braking; and

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between the movement of the piston and the change in the distance between the cylinder pivot connection. and the connection of the toggle lever with the brake lever during'both empty and load operation of the apparatus Referring to the drawings the braking apparatus provided by this invention comprises a brake lever t which has one end pivotally secured by means of a pin 3 to a portion of the car struc- 55 ture indicated at 2-, and has pivotally secured The brake lever f has secured thereto inter- 7 mediate its ends by means of a pin 8, a lever It the other end of which is pivotally secured by apin I2to the stem I4 of a piston I5 which is reciprocably movable in the piston chamber ll which is formed in a cylinder I8 which is pivotal'ly secured by means of a pin I9 to a portion of the car structure indicated at 2. The stem I4 is guided by a bushing fitted in an opening in the cover plate 2i which is secured on the open face of the cylinder I8. ton l5 and the cylinder it together form one lever of a toggle lever mechanism connecting the brake lever I with the car structure 2, the lever I0, which is pivotally secured to the brake lever and to the piston stem I4, constituting the other lever of this toggle lever mechanism.

The brake lever I has a pair of abutments or stops and 26 formed thereon on opposite sides of the pin 8 and which are adapted to be engaged by the portions 28 and 29 of the lever Hi to limit angular movement of the lever I0 relative to the brake lever.

As is best shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings the lever II) has formed integral therewith a pair of spaced arms 30 which lie on opposite sides of theend of the piston stem I4, being pivotally connected thereto by means of the pin I2, and the outer faces of these arms are provided with projecting portions and 3B which define cam surfaces 38 and 39 respectively.

The cover plate 2| has a pair of spaced ears or projecting portions 42 formed integral therewith which extend along the outer faces of the arm 30, being disposed adjacent thereto.

Each of the ears 42 is provided with an elongated opening or slot 45 extending in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the cylinder I1, and in each of these openings is disposed a movable member 48 comprising a substantially cylindrical portion of a diameter approximately as large as the width of the slot 45, and having an enlarged inner end portion 49 located between the projecting portions 35 and 36' on an arm 30 and adapted to engage at different times, as will hereinafter more fully appear, the cam surfaces 38 and. 3-9.

' The movable members 48 have secured thereon outwardly of the ears 42, links 50 by means of which the position of the movable members in the slots 45 may be controlled.

The pis- The cylinder I8 has formed on opposite sides thereof slide guide ways 55 in which are slidably secured by means of cover plates 56, cam plates 58, each of which has a cam slot 59, in which are 5 positioned cam followers 68. The cam followers 88 each have a head 6| formed thereon to prevent the member from pulling out of the slot in the cam plates, the rear faces of the plates 58 being cut away adjacent the cam slots to 'pro' 10 vide spaces for the heads 6|.

The links 58 are secured on the outer ends of the cam followers 68, and, as will be understood,

stantially perpendicularly to the links so that forces transmitted to these links by the movable members 48 will not effect movement of the cam plates in the slide guide ways, while the links 58 extend between spaced projections 64 formed on 7 the flanges on the cover plate 2| and on the cylinder I8, and are guided thereby so as to move only in the direction of their length when the cam plates are reciprocated. Means is provided to move the cam plates between their upper and lower positions and this means comprises a casing I0 pivotally secured to the cylinder I8 by means of a pin 'II,.and having formed therein a piston chamber I3 in which is mounted the piston I5 which is urged to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawings by a spring I6. The piston 15 has a stem 11 associated therewith and this stem is connected to an arm 88 which is rigidly secured to a shaft 82 supported on brackets 85 formed integral with the cylinder I8. The shaft 82 has rigidly secured thereto adjacent the ends thereof arms 83 which are connected with the cam plates 58 by means of links 89 so that when the piston I5 is reciprocated the shaft 82 will be oscillated and the cam plates 58 will be moved in unison.

The piston chamber I3 is supplied with fluid under pressure from a suitable source, such as the brake pipe 95, through a flexible conduit 98,

the supply of fluid to and the release of fluid from the piston chamber I3 being controlled by suitable valve means.

. In the system shown in the drawings a manually operated valve is interposed in the pipe leading from the brake pipe to the piston chamber I3 and comprises a casing 91 having a rotary valve 98 positioned therein and controlled by a handle 99. The valve 98 has passages formed therein adapted in one position of the valve to establish communication between the brake pipe and the piston chamber, in another position to cut off this communication, and in still another position to establish communication between the piston chamber and the atmosphere.

While a manually operated valve has been illustrated for controlling the supply and release of fluid under pressure to and from the piston chamber 13 it should be understood that any of the well known means for changing over brake equipment from empty braking to load braking may be employed to operate this valve, or to actuate the cam plates.

Similarly while fluid pressure operated means has been illustrated for the purpose of shifting the cam plates 58, it should be understood that these may be shifted by any other suitable means such as by manually actuated means.

The supply and release of fluid under pressure to and from the piston chamber I1 is controlled by a triple valve device or other brake controlling valve device indicated at I00 and which communicates with the piston chamber I! through a flexible conduit I02. The triple valve device I88 also communicates with the brake pipe 95, and with an auxiliary reservoir I83 in the usual 5 manner.

The operation of the apparatus when conditioned for load braking will now be described. In order to condition the apparatus for load braking the handle 99 of the valve 9'! is turned 10 to a position to permit fluid under pressure to flow to the piston chamber I3, thereby forcing the piston I5'to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawings, against the spring I6 and rotating the shaft 82 in a clockwise direction thus moving 5 the cam plates 58 to the upper position. This movement of the cam plates 58 causes the links 58 to move the movable members 48 towards the cylinder I8. The apparatus is now in the condition illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and 20 shown-diagrammatically in' Fig. 6.

As is indicated in Fig. 6 the head portions 49 of the movable members 48 are substantially in engagement with the cam surface 38 on the lever I9 at this time, while the projecting portion 29 25 on the lever I8 is in engagement with the stop 26 on the brake lever I.

If the brakes are to be applied, a reduction in brake pipe pressure is effected so as to cause the triple valve device I08 to be operated in the usual 30 manner to supply fluid under pressure to the piston chamber I1 and thereby the piston I5 is moved to the left, as viewed in the drawings, and this movement is transmitted through the stem I4 to the pin I2, and movement of the pin I2 is transmitted therethrough to the lever ID at a point intermediate the movable members 48, which members are held in a fixed position by the links 58, and the pin 8, by means of which the lever I8 is secured to the brake lever. 40

As the members 48 are rigidly secured relative to the cylinder I8, and as the brake lever is movable relative to the cylinder I8, on movement of the piston I5 by the fluid under pressure in the cylinder, the lever ID will be caused to move 45 around the members 48, (see Figs. 6 and '7), and in moving will effect movement of the brake lever I.

The rate of movement of the pin 8 will be more rapid than that of the piston I5 or the pin I2 50 as the pin 8 is located a greater distance than the pin I2 from the members about which the lever I0 pivots when it is moved by the stem I4, these members being the movable members 48, which at this time are maintained in a fixed 5 position.

As the lever I0 moves, the cam surfaces 38 effect movement of the pin I2 downwardly, as shown in Figs. 6 to 8 of the drawings, and after a certain amount of movement of the piston I5, 60 the pin I2 will be moved to a point substantially in alignment with the pin 8 and the pin I9 on which the cylinder I8 is pivotally secured to the car structure 2. The pin I2 will then be in a position slightly below that in which it is shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

On further movement of the piston I5 the cam surfaces 38, operating on the movable members 48, move the pivot pin I2 to a point on the opposite side of a plane passing between the pin 8 70 and the pin I9, and with the pivot point I2 in this position, the lever I8 is rotated about the pin 8 so as to cause the projection 28 to engage the stop 25. The apparatus now is in the position in which it is shown diagrammatically in 7 aqeaaee inues until e sn iia 9 m: ent vis conditioned at a rapid rate until so, mae'merfeafiee the brake lever ,"l :relativ e t hef tp a n thatthe pi L H H v great forceomthe brakelever i in the range. of movementfoiflthi's 1 applythe'brakes. This provides the high degree of hraking 'forcewhich is required. for load brakaw i movem nt of, he

ging'and to move thefll'orake shoes to the appliea t the p so l 't it fii' el i t d n l ellnter lq wi 'se dirc there y moving the camplates ia ownwardl 'B thismqremn ft e am lates the links 5 0.- are movedu away from the cylinder l 8 w'itblf'the, result that. the movable members 55 48V arefmoved to their outer position. The apparatiis, ini the condition v illustrated in, Fi. .'2 and shown. diagrammaticallyin 9 of the drawings.

60 underpiesslure w S admitted ztofthe piston chamber motion will1beftransmittechto,the stem M and 1 theretlii'ou'ghl to thelpin IZ ancl. to the lever I0; Thief le'vr', ill 1 is pivotally secured to the brake lever ,l'glliy the pint, and on movement of the the JQQfi eFWe W sleyan- 0min e H IIlBIlPNVZthfiIlQSflOP2;:01l l;he,

not already in this ,position.

6P1? ifii't ement-Qt emst n-r t; he. h h ev li t eeu ed t.

. qyeetet ete ubset:

app a-ae;

Mi e? i e fii osition'l the? ei e eee fete v wi t e we: 1 Qhsl ano n ust sh rt, of the point, at which the hrakesareapplied and O 'if mQVQ KUQfiQ d e it he esale .fl 5; W111 be able" tofdevelop very member, whichis effective tor ing, yet permits the brake lever [to be moved.

mosphere. The springfifi thereupon moves m 1 i fiz. -1 iWdine-. ofv the'dr'awings anol on thismoven ent of the,

ith the: apparatus in this condition if; fluid.

' l1; thepi'stohi [5 will move outwardly and 1 its VeM I-m mbm 85 1 011; of

e 2 l bsiei t al st n e, as is Ha ie n. ceqr enee w th; he ate at) which th ie i le me a he v i o enqi e e e;

me i e h Wak ve il cont nue. un 11 the, lever ID; has been moved an amgunt;

' suificient to niove the. cam surfaces 38; into en-,

lil fwjll; efiect movement of. the-brake lever I;

'Ijhehralge flever I; therefore, atone. time, will be moved not" only as a result of movement of the. i e, lever. Iii; and its rate of movement, being dueto this; combination of forces, will be'suhstantially increased over its rate of movement on-the initia l movement offthe pistonflii';

Inempty braking, therefore, as is shown dia-. grammatically in Fig.' 12 of the drawings, the brake leverv I, isinitially moved: at a relatively slowrate, and this movement is followedbythe relatively rapid rate of movement of the brake. leverwhich-isin effect atthetime that the brake shoes are applied to -the wheels so that the brake.

lil but also as a result of pivotingofthe cylinder, develops a comparatively small braking force,

BY p v perly proportioning thelvarious part-slot.-

the apparatus'it is possilolevto arrange the ap paratus .so that the amountpf travel o'fl the pisl ton. I is requiredto move, the. rakeleVer anamount sufficient to effect an application of. thebrakes will be substantiallythe same in both empty and loadbrakingf However, because of the differences in the rate of travel of the brake leverland of the piston IS in different parts, ohtheir, range of movement the. apparatus develops relatively great braking force during load braking, as the. brakelever is. moved at a relatively slow rate compared to the, rate of movement of the piston [5. during the; rangeof its movement which iseffectiveto press the shoes against the wheels/while during empty braking theapparatus. develops comparatively" small, braking force, because atthis time the brake leyer Lisp moved at a relativelyrapid rateas compared to the rate of movement of the. pistonv I5. during the ,rangaof its'movement which is effective to apply the shoeslto the, wheels.

Inaddition, the amountof travel of the. piston IS and thendiameter otthe'piston may be ar-o rangedso that thevolumetric. displacement of the. piston in effecting an application of the. brakes: willbe Y substantially the same asft hat. of the, standard 19, inch brake, cylinderhavinga normal travellof B in hes,

In. order to. releasethe brakes after an applica- 10a movement of -th e brake lever-by the eleaseispring c uses the piston. |5-,to move.

tditardfth. pivot n is, and after ailinited amountof such movement the cam surfaces 33 are moved into, engagement with the, mpyable merebejgsfiflf On furtherrmo'vementof the piston l5 the'cam surfaces 39 effect movement of thelto ggle,

levers relat :ei to each othersgthatthe p 12 is e f-tea, i herniat on;

Fig. 8 to a position on the opposite side of a plane passing through the pins 8 and I9, and so that when the piston l5 and the brake lever I are moved to the full release position the apparatus will again be substantially in the position in which it is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

Similarly in releasing the brakes after an application of the brakes with the apparatus conditioned for empty braking, the cam surfaces 39 will be moved into engagement with the members 48 after a limited amount of movement of the piston l5, and the apparatus will be caused to return substantially to the position in which it is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 9 of the drawmgs.

While one embodiment of the brake apparatus provided by this invention has been illustrated and described in detail it should be understood that the invention is not limited to these details and that numerous changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

i. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal comiection between the toggle levers and the point of connection between one of said levers and the member to which the lever is connected, and means for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of said toggle levers.

2. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the toggle levers and the point of connection between one of said levers and the member to which the lever is connected, and means responsive to changes in said distance for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing points of connection of the ends of said levers.

3. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the toggle levers and the point of connection between said levers and the support, and means for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of said levers.

4. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the toggle levers and the point of connection between said levers and the support, and means responsive to changes in said distance for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection oi"? the ends of said levers.

5. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle through the waste levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the point of connection between one of the levers and the member to which the lever is connected, and means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with means carried by the other of said levers and operable to vary the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of said levers.

6. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the point of connection between one of the levers and the member to which the lever is connected, and means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with means carried by the other of said levers and operable responsive to changes in said distance to vary the position of the pivotal connection between the toggle levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of the levers.

7. In a brake system, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the point of connection between one of the levers and the member to which the lever is connected, and means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with a member carried by the other of said levers and operable to vary the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of the levers, and means to vary the position of the member carried by said other lever.

8. In a braking system, in combination, a brake controlling member, toggle levers connected to a support and to the brake controlling member, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the point of connection between one of the levers and the member to which the lever is connected, means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with a member carried by the other of said levers and operable responsive to changes in said distance to vary the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane passing through the points of connection of the ends of said levers, and means to vary the position of the member carried by said other lever.

9. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, toggle levers connected to the support and to the brake lever, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the member to which one of the levers is connected, and means for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the points of connection of the ends of said levers.

=10. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, toggle levers connected to the support and to the brake lever, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the member to which one of the levers is connected, and means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with a member carried by the other of said levers for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the points of connection of the ends of said levers.

11. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, toggle levers connected to the support and to the brake lever, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the member to which one of the levers is connected, and means responsive to changes in said distance for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the points of connection of the ends of said levers.

12. In a braking system, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, toggle levers connected to the support and to the brake lever, means for varying the distance between the pivotal connection between the levers and the member to which one of the levers is connected, means carried by one of said levers and cooperating with a member carried by the other of said levers for varying the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the points of connectionof the ends of said levers, and means to adjustably vary the position of the member carried by said other lever.

13. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, a pair of levers pivotally connected together, one of said levers being pivotally connected to the brake lever, the other of said levers being pivotally connected to the support, means for varying the length of the lever which is connected to the support, and means responsive to changes in the distance between the support and the pivotal connection between the levers for controlling the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the pivotal connections at the ends of the levers.

14. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, a pair of levers pivotally connected together, one of said levers being pivotally connected to the brake lever, the other of the levers being pivotally connected to the support, means for varying the length of the lever which is connected to the support, and means carried by the lever pivotally connected to the brake lever and coopcrating with a member carried by the other of said levers for controlling the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane extending between the pivotal connections at the ends of the levers.

15. In an empty and load brake equipment, in combination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, a pair of levers pivotally connected together, one of said levers being pivotally connected to the brake lever, the other of said levers being pivotally connected to the support, means .for varying the length of the lever which is concombination, a brake lever pivotally secured to a support, a pair of levers pivotally connected together, one of said levers being pivotally connected to the brake lever, the other of said levers being pivotally connected to the support, means to vary the length of the last named lever, a member carried by the last named lever and maintained thereby at a substantially fixed distance from the point of connection of the lever with the support, and means associated with the other of said levers and cooperating with said member and operable to control the position of the pivotal connection between the levers relative to a plane passing between the points of connection between the levers and the members connected thereto.

17. A braking system as described in claim 16 and characterized by means to adjustably vary the distance between the support and the member carried by the lever connected to the support.

18. A braking system as describedin claim 16 and characterized by means to limit rotation of the lever connected to the brake lever relative to the brake lever.

19. In a braking system, in combination, a brake lever, a brake cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a lever mechanism operatively connecting said piston to said lever and including means operative upon movement of said piston for first moving said lever at a fast rate and then at a slower rate relative to said piston, and mechanism for conditioning said lever mechanism and means so that movement of said piston effects first a movement of said lever at a slow rate and then at a more rapid rate relative to said piston.

JOHN W. LOGAN, JR. 

